Police surround Center Valley home

The Lehigh County Emergency Response Team subdued a Center Valley man with a Taser Sunday night after he engaged in an armed standoff with police for about two hours at a home on Lanark Road in Upper Saucon Township.

Police were called to the home at 4541 Lanark Road for a report of a domestic dispute at about 6:55 p.m. said Upper Saucon Police Chief Robert E. Coyle.

When they arrived, Jose Vargas, 38, refused to come out and threatened both his girlfriend, who was in the house, and police officers.

"He said we would have to come in and get him," Coyle said.

Police shut down Lanark Road and summoned the Lehigh County Emergency Response Team, which converged on the home at the intersection with Huckleberry Drive, on the edge of a dense development of modern townhouses, and ordered nearby residents to remain inside.

When Vargas stepped out on the front porch of the home at about 9 p.m., police hit him with a Taser and took him into custody, Coyle said. He was not armed and police were waiting for a search warrant to enter the house. His girlfriend was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital for treatment, but appeared to have suffered only scratches and marks, he said.

She told police Vargas owned two guns. Coyle said neighbors told police they had heard Vargas, who appeared to have moved in the home in the last two to three weeks, shooting the guns in recent days in his backyard.

Monica Campbell, a resident of Fairway Court in the townhouse development, said police officers came to the neighborhood with guns drawn.

"It was pretty crazy," she said. "They were all telling us we had to get out of the area."